Key Cybersecurity Practices Every Accountant Must Know

Accounting used to be primarily about keeping track of money, but now it is also about protecting that money from theft. Today’s financial accountants have to be prepared for an event where they may lose a single credential. It cost them over 6 million dollars due to a compromise, and the average cost of a breach in the financial services sector is 6,081,000 dollars.

More and more financial institutions are experiencing cyberattacks that include phishing attacks using artificial intelligence and deepfakes. This has changed the way accountants think about protecting their clients’ data. It has become just as important to protect your clients’ data as it is to perform an audit. 

So this guide provides a “Silicon Shield” approach to safeguard your organization and your clients’ trust. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Over 60% of breaches involve the human element; targeted training on “deepfake” vishing and BEC is now mandatory for resilience. 
• Ransomware hits over half of financial firms; maintaining air-gapped, immutable backups is the only guaranteed way to avoid paying. 
• Implementing phishing-resistant MFA is the single most effective way to block the leading attack vector: credential abuse.

Why Accountants are Prime Targets

Small businesses and individual practitioners are very appealing to attackers. Attackers are aware that financial departments have access to wire transfers and invoices. 

Financial departments that have been affected by phishing or business email compromise attacks are at risk because they utilize the employee as a link in the approval process for money going out, or there is potential access to client files.

The financial sector faces higher-than-average breach costs; the global mean cost of a data breach recently reached roughly USD 4.88 million, and breaches in finance can be significantly costlier.

VPNs, Client Data Protection, and Safe Access to Foreign Web Resources

When accountants travel or use public Wi-Fi, a tunnel is worth its weight in peace of mind. Use a reputable VPN to encrypt traffic and reduce the chance that credentials or client files are intercepted.

Remote access located in foreign locations can be secured through the use of a VPN. When using VPNs, seek for companies that provide server lists and have defined privacy policies.

One such option is VeePN — but evaluate any vendor for logging, jurisdiction, and independent audits before trusting them with client data protection. Using a VPN is not a magic shield, but it greatly enhances data protection, regardless of the measures taken by the network administrator.

The Basic Checklist Every Accountant Should Follow

The following is a short cybersecurity checklist that can be implemented immediately. This list is a baseline, and all items must be addressed as mandatory.

1. Strong passwords + a password manager. Long, unique passwords for each service. No reuse. Period.
2. Multifactor authentication (MFA) everywhere possible. Even one additional step blocks many automated attacks.
3. Email vigilance: verify wire-change requests by phone, not only by email; treat urgent language with suspicion.
4. Keep systems and accounting software patched and up to date.
5. Back up data regularly; keep an offline or immutable copy and test restores.
6. Use role-based access: give users only the permissions they need.
7. Segment networks of guests and staff computers, and ensure that backups are different than production systems
8. Due diligence on 3rd party applications and Cloud Service Providers will include requiring evidence of third-party audits such as SOC 2 or equivalent.
9. Maintain an incident response plan and run tabletop exercises annually.

These steps reduce the most common risks seen across financial services. Phishing and pretexting still dominate the number of cyber incidents related to finance. Most cases of cyber fraud begin with email deception.

Passwords, Identity, and Credential Hygiene

Long passwords have the best success rate when it comes to password security. Randomly generated passphrases provide maximum security, while password management systems provide a simple alternative to having to remember multiple secrets and making credential rotation easy.

Enable MFA: push notifications, hardware keys (FIDO2 / YubiKey), or authenticator apps are far better than SMS. Why? Stolen credentials are still a top initial entry method for attackers; reducing credential reuse and adding MFA closes that door.

Email: Spotting and Stopping Phishing Attacks

Phishing is fast and effective. Users often click in under a minute. Criminals use spoofed invoices, fake vendor updates, or CEO-impersonation tactics (BEC) to trick accounting teams.

Staff should receive training on real-world examples (cases) of how to identify phishing attempts, and to use them with mindsets of “improvement” and “learning from mistakes.” Require independent verification of payment requests received via email before authorizing them (call the sender on a known number). 

Good detection controls — email filtering, attachment sandboxing, and DMARC/DKIM/SPF — help too. Phishing and pretexting accounted for a large share of finance-sector incidents in recent breach analyses.

Backups, Recovery, and Ransomware Readiness

Ransomware has become the #1 concern in finance, and in recent surveys, more than half of all financial institutions stated that they have experienced some sort of ransomware attack. The types of attacks have evolved to include attempts to corrupt their backups.

The safe route is a tested backup strategy: multiple copies, at least one offline or immutable snapshot, documented recovery steps, and periodic restore tests. Assume an attack will happen; preparing to recover is how you limit damage and downtime.

Patching, Updates, and Software Hygiene

Unpatched systems can also provide an opportunity for would-be attackers. It is critical to maintain your accounting software, operating systems, and remote access tools with timely updates. Prioritize the most critical security updates for your systems and explore automated patch management solutions for all of your endpoints. 

Disable or remove any services that are not used and eliminate legacy ports. For smaller companies, it would be ideal if you implemented a simple patch cadence and followed it with well-documented processes for maintaining your patch cadence.

Access Control and The Principle of Least Privilege

Limit the ability to initiate a wire transfer, delete a backup, or change clients’ billing information to as few people as possible. Create clearly defined roles and responsibilities regarding signing authority and access to sensitive information and applications; review these on at least a quarterly basis.

Credentials for high-risk actions (banking portals, payroll systems) should be restricted and monitored; use privileged access management where feasible.

Third Parties, Cloud Apps and Vendor Risk

Accountants rely on banks, payroll providers, cloud storage, and tax software. Each vendor is a potential path for attackers. When working with vendors, inquire about their encryption capabilities, subcontractors, and audit reports (SOC 2, ISO 27001). 

Treat vendor security as part of your own duty of care and document the findings in a vendor risk register.

Training, Culture and Incident Response

Technology is necessary, but human awareness is the multiplier. Run short, regular training sessions focused on the real threats accountants face: invoice fraud, payroll manipulation, and compromised emails. 

Establish a culture of non-punitive reporting so that all mistakes can be reported as soon as possible; have a written incident response plan that defines. How the bank will be contacted, how clients will be notified, who will be responsible for public relations, and who will restore the back-ups to ensure minimal downtime. Test the incident response plan at least annually.

Quick Statistics That Matter (and Why)

The first step in building a truly strong firm is understanding the current threat landscape based on actual data.

• The average global cost of a data breach recently hit about USD 4.88 million, and costs for financial firms are often higher. This shows the potential financial impact of a single incident.
• Phishing and pretexting performed via e-mail have become two of the leading causes of breaches in the financial and accounting industries, as most users click on links in less than a minute.
• Ransomware affected most financial services organizations in recent surveys; attackers also target backups during incidents, making tested recovery plans essential.

Closing: A Compact Checklist to Print

Cybersecurity relies on consistency; therefore, you need to maintain and verify your daily baseline to ensure that you never miss critical security protections.

1. Use a password manager + unique passwords.
2. Turn on MFA for all accounts.
3. Verify payment changes by phone.
4. Backup daily; keep an offline copy; test restores.
5. Patch quickly and remove unused services.
6. Restrict access by role; review permissions quarterly.
7. Vet vendors; demand security evidence.
8. Train staff often; run incident drills.

Action beats worry. Start with strong passwords and MFA, back up your data, and put a simple incident plan in place. Accountants have a professional duty to protect the data of their clients; but equally important, protecting that data will be a competitive advantage, as clients want to work with firms that take security seriously.

If you can implement just three things this week, enable MFA, set up a password manager, and start automatic backups, you will have greatly reduced your exposure.

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